Did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women?: The marriages of Solomon to foreign women are given as an example of the danger of such liaisons. He had wives from among the peoples mentioned in Deut 23.4-9, and they led him into idolatry (see 1 Kgs 11.1-10). This sentence begins another rhetorical question in Nehemiah’s series of accusations. As with Nehemiah’s earlier rhetorical questions, Good News Translation again changes the question into a statement and makes its meaning explicit. This will be a helpful model for many translators if it expresses the full strength of the rhetorical question.

The rhetorical question is followed by four statements:
1) Among the many nations there was no king like him, and this was the fulfillment of a promise of God (see 1 Kgs 3.12-13).
2) He was beloved by his God is a reference to Solomon’s personal name, Jedidiah, which means “beloved of the LORD” (see 2 Sam 12.25).
3) God made him king over all Israel is evidence of God’s love for him.
4) Nevertheless foreign women made even him to sin, and this emphasizes that if Solomon with all his wisdom and devotion to God and power could be led into sin by foreign wives, others would be even more likely to sin as a result of such marriages.

Among the many nations there was no king like him: No king in his time could compare with Solomon in wisdom or in wealth (1 Kgs 3.12-13; 2 Chr 1.12). There was no one who was equal to him, there was no one comparable to him, there was no one as great as he was among the many nations. These were the kingdoms and the peoples other than Israel (see Ezra 6.21). Contemporary English Version expresses this in contemporary English: “the greatest king on earth.”

He was beloved by his God is a passive construction. It will be necessary in some languages to state this with an active expression, for example, “his God loved him” or “the God that he served loved him.”

God made him king expresses a causative action. God caused him to be the king over all Israel, that is, over all the land of Israel or over all the people of Israel.

Nevertheless foreign women made even him to sin: The conclusion is very emphatic. It begins with an intensive conjunction followed by the third person singular masculine pronoun in Hebrew, which is literally “even him foreign wives caused to sin.” Revised English Bible translates “nevertheless even he was led by foreign women into sin.” The verb here is causative and may be rendered “they led him into sin” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible) or “they caused him to enter into sin” (Deftere Allah). New Jerusalem Bible adds an exclamation point at the end of this clause for emphasis.

Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Nehemiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .